Panic Cord
by gublersocks
Summary: The shot rang so loud you could hear from ten blocks away. Time stood still as he watched the bullet travel through midair straight for Emily's left shoulder. It was like everyone and everything was in slow motion. Everyone's voice was so quiet. He couldn't move. He didn't want to believe any of it.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, after almost a year, I have returned. I would like to apologize for any inconvenience I have caused you guys. I have been so busy with school that I have had no time to even open Microsoft Word. But, after a great deal of concentration, I have managed to put together this little thing. Yes, I will try to make it a long story, but as for updates, they won't be frequent. It will probably be every weekend, but if there is no update every weekend then you shall expect one the next weekend. If I forget, please send me an email (richardsonchelsey7 ), because I feel terrible for leaving you exceptional people.**

**As for medical terms, please know that I am no expert. I just put 80/50 because I always see it on shows and it seems like a horrible sign lol.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

**THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!**

**LOVE TO ALL**

**WARNING: SWEARING**

The shots rang so loud you could hear it from ten blocks away. Your ears would feel like they were bleeding if you were standing beside the shooter. Time stood still as he watched the bullet travel through midair straight for Emily's left shoulder, just above her left breast. His pulse quickened and his body started shaking from terror. He wanted so badly to kick the complete shit out of the Unsub, but he knew he couldn't.

"Hotch!"

It was like everyone and everything was in slow motion. Everyone's voice was so quiet. He couldn't move. He didn't want to believe any of it.

"Hotch! Go to Emily!"

He wants to believe this is a dream; that it's fake.

"Hotch for crying out loud, _go to Emily!_"

His head whipped around to find his good friend David Rossi screaming orders at him. He finally found the ability to move his body and sprint straight to Emily.

There was blood. A lot of it. Emily was lying in her own pool of blood and it was leaving her body quickly. He fell to the ground next to you, desperately wanting to do something, anything to help her. He checked her neck for a pulse and his heart slowed down a bit once he found one.

"Emily? Emily, can you hear me?"

No answer.

"Emily please wake up!"

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. After a couple of seconds he stopped and just looked at her. Even when she was in a dirty old alleyway and lying in her own blood, she still looked breathtaking. Hotch was brought back to reality when he felt her hand squeeze his.

"Hotch…" Emily wheezed out.

Hotch looked at her. He couldn't speak.

"Emily! Okay, don't move, the paramedics are on their way." He told her, trying to keep her as calm as he could, but he was also trying to keep himself calm.

Emily nodded slowly but started to close her eyes, drifting into the abyss.

"No, Emily! Stay with me, come on! Let me see your eyes, Em!" Aaron pleaded. He didn't want to lose her, he couldn't. Not now, not when he hasn't told her.

Emily slowly, painfully opened her eyes a tad. She was starting to leave her body, she could feel it. But she tried so hard to stay aware of her surroundings; to stay awake _for him_.

"That's it; I need you to keep your eyes on me, Emily."

She could hear the blaring sirens in the distance. They were getting closer each second that past. She could do it; she knew she could.

"It hurts…" She whispered to him. Aaron nodded, the tears surrounding his eyes.

"I know, they're almost here; just a few more minutes."

She kept her eyes on his, squeezing his hand from the pain that ripped through her body. Suddenly she saw flashing blue and red lights a few metres from her body.

_Finally…_ she thought. Her hand tightened around Aaron's, silently asking him to give her some strength; the strength to hold on. Her eyes flashed to his; his to hers.

"You're doing so well, Em. You can do it, _you're so strong_." He encouraged her. He couldn't lose her.

The paramedic's raced towards her, quickly but carefully, placing her on the gurney and wheeling her away. Aaron never left her side, no matter what the paramedics said to him. He wouldn't leave her. He rushed into the ambulance with her and felt the ambulance jerk forward, speeding back to the hospital. He knew he should call Dave and let the team know to meet him at the hospital, but he would call when he got to the destination.

"80/50, her pressures dropping!"

As soon as those words came out of the paramedic's mouth, Aaron's world stopped spinning. The beeping of the monitor suddenly became louder. Once again, everything turned to slow motion.

Emily slipped out of consciousness right as they arrived at the hospital. The paramedics took Emily straight to the emergency room. Aaron was stopped before he could go any farther.

"Sir, you can't go any further."

"No! I need to know she's okay, I can't lose her!" Aaron yelled at the doctor.

The doctor pushed his hands against Aaron's chest to try and keep him from going any further. "I understand that sir, but she's in the best hands now."

Aaron growled, "I need her to be okay, I haven't told her yet!" he screamed at the doctor.

"You can tell her when she's out of surgery sir, but you need to calm down and get back!" The doctor told him sternly. Aaron looked into his eyes fiercely, but finally backed down. He whipped out his cell phone and dialed Dave's number.

"_Aaron, what's going on?"_

"They just took her into surgery; you have to get here Dave. It's bad."

"_We're on our way now; five minutes away. Just hold on, okay? Take a seat somewhere and we'll be there soon."_

Aaron sighed and plunked down in a chair closest to him. He pushed his face into his palm, tears threatening to release. "I can't lose her, Dave."

"_I know, Aaron. She'll be fine. Be there in a few minutes. Hang in there."_

And with that, the call ended. Hotch shoved his phone in his pocket at buried his face in his hands. His body started shaking. Finally the tears that threatened his very soul, poured out of him.

It had been hours since Emily entered the surgery room. Everything was white and bright. It was like she was floating on a cloud; like she was flying. Then everything crashed down on her. She could feel the pain of the bullet hitting her and piercing through her body. She could hear a loud, annoying beeping noise and she could feel her hands fist the sheets. Her eyes slowly opened and she looked around the room, examining her surroundings. Then a man in a blue scrubs suit and a white mask over his face came toward her.

"Welcome back, Emily. How are you feeling?" The man asked her.

Emily looked at him for a moment to try and recollect her memory.

_The gun. The bullet. The pain._

_Aaron._

"Uh, I've had better days Dr…"

"Edwards. I'm just here to check in on you."

"I could use some water if that's possible." Emily told him with a slight smile.

"Of course, I'll get a nurse to bring that right in for you."

She nodded and closed her eyes.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Your team is here, but there's a man here who came in the ambulance with us…Agent Hotch something. Anyways, he's been here the whole time, he even tried to fight off another Doctor just to come in the surgery room with us. He said he has to tell you something but I'm not sure what. He was pretty set on making sure you were okay and well. Would you like me to send him and the team in?"

Emily stared at him emotionless not answering his question. _What does he want to tell me?_ She thought to herself.

"Emily?"

The voice of Doctor Edwards brought her back to reality. She looked up at him again and nodded, "Uh, yes please, send them in."

Doctor Edwards nodded and went to find her team.

Emily subconsciously smiled to herself. She couldn't believe that Aaron Hotchner wanted to know if she was safe and alive. That didn't sound like him at all. Suddenly six members of the BAU walked into her room and crowded around her bed. She smiled to each and every one of them, but lingering on Aaron.

"Emily, don't you dare do that again, you hear me?" Garcia exclaimed to her. Her face was tearstained and there was mascara underneath her eyes from crying. Emily chuckled and nodded to her perky friend. "I won't, I promise."

JJ smiled and hugged her best friend. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you again." She told Emily with tears streaming down her face. Emily let a tear slip and gave her best friend a gentle hug.

Spencer and Derek just hugged her and welcomed her back.

Dave came up to her next and swore at her, but let a smile appear on his face as he pulled back from the hug.

Aaron was last. They both made eye contact with each other, but he didn't move a muscle.

"Hotch…" Emily decided that she should break the silence first because she knew he wouldn't.

"You had us all worried, Emily." He said to her, making his way over to her bed. He sat down by her legs and shook his head, looking down at the floor. "I swear, you should be put on desk duty for the rest of your days." He joked. Everyone in the room chuckled at his comment.

Emily looked at him and broke a smile. "I'd be bored." She told him. He chuckled. By then, everyone had left to give them both some privacy. Emily stared at him for a moment before once again breaking the silence.

"Hotch…the Doctor said you wanted to tell me something, what is it?" She asked him curiously. Aaron lifted his head and looked into her beautiful, brown eyes. He wanted to tell her so badly. He wanted to tell her that he needed her in his life. He wanted to tell her that he can't lose her.

He wanted to tell her that he _loves her._

"I just wanted to tell you that…Jack wants you to come to dinner on Saturday if you aren't too busy healing."

Emily chuckled. She didn't believe him one bit, but if she went to dinner then she might be able to get it out of him.

"Tell him I say yes."

Hotch smiled at her and patted her leg gently. "Rest up, Prentiss." He told her kindly, and then walked out the door.

Emily looked at the empty door, silently praying that he comes back and tells her the truth.

She just wanted to him that she _loves him._


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for your lovely reviews! And a special thanks to 'Detective Rumskey' for helping me out with some more medical terms. I will definitely use those in the future!**

**It's midnight here and I've been working on this since yesterday (Thursday) and I still don't know how I feel about it. But, I wanted to post a chapter because I know I said I would. I hope you guys enjoy this one, so let me know what you think. Tell me if you hate or like it, I'd love to know.**

**SPOILERS BELOW, PLEASE CLOSE YOUR EYES AND SCROLL TO THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER!**

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**I guess I should tell you about what is happening in this chapter before you start it. Basically, the storyline is after Ian Doyle's death, so that would be season 7 episode 2 (Proof). I know that Hotch and Emily already know they're feelings for each other, but I want them to develop a friendship before they even consider moving into something more. They can still be friends even when they're in love with each other. Yes, they will eventually confess their love for each other, but that's down the road. I mentioned that Emily hasn't told the team the whole story about Ian yet. So I kind of changed it around a bit. **

**SO BASICALLY: the team knew about Ian Doyle and how he wanted to take her life and all that fun stuff, but Emily never told them why. She just told them that he was an old criminal that Interpol had been trying to find for years and Emily was part of that team. She never told them about her love life and undercover work she had to undergo. Anyways, Interpol found him and killed him when he pulled weapons on them, so it was suicide by cop. Ian never had Declan. Now Emily still has to tell the team about her life before the BAU and all that happened with Ian Doyle. I hope that clears it up for all of you, if you still have any questions or are confused about my explanation, please feel free to leave a review and ask me any questions, I will do my best to answer them for you!**

**Please let me know what you think, it really boosts my confidence level! And if you review, you can have a cookie!**

_The gleaming of the moon was the only lighting that surrounded the dark alleyway. She felt as if she was being swallowed up by the narrow path. It was suffocating her; stripping her from her own identity._

_At the end of the alleyway, there was a tall mirror that showed her reflection. _

_She stared at herself for a few moments. She wondered how anyone could ever love someone as damaged as she was. She was broken, mentally. Her past was creeping up on her and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't run away because that would just make it worse. She wondered what her life would be like now if she never went to Yale. If she never applied for a position in the BAU._

_If she never met Aaron Hotchner._

_As she was staring at herself in the mirror, a figure quickly flashed behind her. She quickly whipped around and scanned her surroundings._

_There was someone standing under the street light. From her perspective, she could tell from the figures build, it was a man. The mysterious man slowly started to lift his hand and pull down his hood from on top of his head. Her breath caught in her throat as the man started to move closer to her, very slowly; very painfully. _

_Before she knew it, the man was face to face with her, staring her down. She could feel him trying to tear her apart, from the inside out. His eyes were crystal blue and his face was proportioned perfectly. It was like he was every girl's dream man._

_But this man . . . this man was a monster. This man was the most evil human being on earth, but he hid his mastermind well._

_This man haunted her every day, and he was back to take her life from her . . . again._

"_Hello . . . Lauren."_

_Bang._

The sweat streamed down her face and her back was soaked from the terrible nightmare that had just occurred in her mind. She flashed back to the events from her dream. Emily felt sick to her stomach, and apparently her stomach felt the same way. She quickly gained the energy to push herself up off the bed and throw herself at the toilet in her bathroom. She tried to hold her hair up with her one hand, but realized that she used her bad shoulder that was shot the other night. She winced from the pain that shot through her arm quickly dropped it over the toilet seat. When she was finished, she collapsed against the wall closest to her, brought her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around herself.

She quietly sobbed into her knees, the memories and flashbacks consuming her body; taking control of her emotions. Her heart clenched and unclenched from the pain. She tried to convince herself that he wasn't alive. Ian Doyle has been dead for almost a year now, but he still haunted her. He will always be there with her, he was a part of her. Hell, they were in a serious relationship for almost 7 years. Even though Emily was on a mission, she still learned about him. She knew his daily routines, how he lived. She learned about his childhood, what his parents were like. He trusted her with his deepest, darkest secrets, and she told him hers. She uncovered his story.

She loved him.

And when you spend 7 years with someone, you learn things. You notice the small things that they tend to do when they're nervous, or scared. Everyone has a story, and she learned Ian's.

But Ian Doyle was dead.

Emily slowly pushed herself up off the ground and braced herself on the sink. She lifted her head and looked at her face. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were red from crying. She turned on the tap and splashed water on her face, the cool liquid calming her nerves. She dried her face and walked downstairs into her kitchen.

Emily debated if she should call Hotch and tell him about her nightmares she was having recently. She glanced at the clock on her stove.

3:15 in the morning.

_Well . . . It's Hotch, maybe he's up, _she thought to herself. She picked up her cell phone that was sitting on the kitchen counter and clicked her speed dial. Aaron Hotchner was her number one on speed dial, not only because he was her boss, but because he was usually the one she called in case of an emergency or if she needed to talk.

Even though Hotch has never been, and never will be, someone who is willing to open up and talk about his feelings, he is surprisingly a very good listener when it comes to anyone who wants to talk about something that is troubling them.

It took 4 rings for him to finally answer.

"_Hello?" _

_Shit . . ._ she thought.

"Uh, hi . . . it's Emily, sorry, I obviously disturbed you . . . never mind, I'll just talk to you tomorrow," she mumbled into the speaker.

"_No, it's okay, I was just about to get a drink anyways, what's wrong?"_

Emily debated whether or not to tell him about the dream she had just awoken from. She wondered if she should tell him about Ian Doyle. She let out her first sigh of the night, which surprised her. She wondered why she hasn't sighed yet due to all the stress she was under.

"I just had a nightmare . . . about the shooting."

There was silence on the other side.

"_I was wondering if you were going to have a dream . . . did you want to talk about it?"_

Emily desperately wanted to tell him everything, from start to finish. Everything from her abortion when she was 15, to her undercover mission, to the day she fell in love with him. But she knew she couldn't.

She decided she would just tell him about her dream.

Her life story would be told another time; the right time.

"I was in an alleyway and at the end of it was a mirror. So, I walked up to it and stared at myself for what felt like hours, and I wondered about things, a lot of things actually. Then a man appeared behind me and it felt like time had stopped." Emily sucked in a shaky breath and yet again, braced herself on the counter. "The man took his hood off and he came face to face with me. He stared into my eyes and I could feel him trying to tear me apart. He said my name, Hotch, and I couldn't move . . . oh God . . ."

Emily started shaking from the flashbacks. She let out another shaky breath.

"_Shh, Emily. You're safe now, okay? Do you want me to come over?"_

Emily didn't reply straight away. She caught her breath after a few moments of trying to control her body and breathing.

"It is Saturday, but it's also 3:30 in the morning. I don't want you to drive all the way to my condo and then have to leave thirty minutes later. That would just be pointless."

"_You're probably right, but I want to make sure you're okay. How about we go out for a coffee tomorrow, maybe it will take your mind off of it."_

Emily felt her lips quirk up in a smile at his offer. He usually never invited anyone to go out for a coffee with him. He usually just mentioned he was going and if anyone else wanted anything.

"Uh . . ." she quickly ran over to her calendar to check if she scheduled anything with anyone. "That sounds good. What time do you want me to meet you?"

"_I'll pick you up around noon, if that time is good for you."_

Emily sighed for the second time, "Hotch, you don't have to pick me up. I can walk to wherever we're going."

She heard him let out a breath that was combined with a quiet chuckle.

"_I will pick you up at noon, Prentiss."_

His tone of voice was commanding and Emily knew never to argue with his commanding voice. She just let out a light laugh, "Alright, whatever you say Hotch."

Then it occurred to her.

She doesn't even know where they're going.

"Wait, Hotch, where are we going anyways?"

"_It's a surprise, you'll just have to wait and see."_

Emily could hear the smirk in his voice as he taunted her.

"Hmm, I really think I should know where we're going before I just hop in a car. Remember that rule they taught us back in grade one? Never go anywhere without knowing all the information first. Oh and then there was 'stranger danger'. That's a good one."

She heard Hotch let out a chuckle at her childlike yet informative behavior.

"_You know me, I'm the definition of danger."_

Emily let a smile form on her face. "But seriously Hotch, where are we going?"

"_Like I said Prentiss, you'll just have to wait and see."_

Emily let out a groan of agony and dropped her head to her chest.

"Then if you're not going to tell me, it better be one hell of a café." Emily told him sternly, but she knew Hotch would detect the smile in her voice.

"_Don't worry Prentiss, you'll like it."_

"I better. I'll see you tomorrow, text me when you're on your way, okay?"

"_Of course, goodnight Prentiss. See you tomorrow."_

Emily smiled. "Goodnight Hotch." She was just about to hang up when she forgot to thank him. "Oh and Hotch?"

"_Mhm?"_

"Thank you . . . for listening. It means a lot."

"_Always, Prentiss."_

Emily smiled and hung up. She was just about to get a glass of water and head back up to bed when she forgot to ask him something. She quickly called him back before he went back to sleep.

This time it only rung once.

"_Yes?"_

"I forgot to ask . . . are you buying?"


End file.
